The #AYSmiles360 Challenge is starting on March 1st, 2016! The challenge will be 5 days! Grab a friend to be your partner for this challenge. There will be three winners!
The categories are:

Most Creative
Beginner
Advanced

Each winning team will receive:

• One pair ofLineagewear leggings
• One small sugar scrub and one regular salt soak from Scrub Inspired
• One full size box of juicy bamboo wipes from Kaia Naturals
• Two SmileyOm tanks from Smiley OM

To ENTER the #AYSmiles360 Challenge, you must do the following:

Follow the Hosts on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, or Facebook:
@Acroyoga360*
@SuperDaveYoga
@ThirdEyeYogi
@SmileyOM

Follow the Sponsors on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, or Facebook:
@LineageWear
@ScrubInspired
@KaiaNaturals*

* Not on Tumblr yet

Regram the picture above and post it to your Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, or Facebook account, making sure to tag all hosts and sponsors!

Make sure you use the #AYSmiles360 hashtag in ALL your posts for the challenge! This is how we will find your entries.

We will be choosing a different yoga asana each day of the challenge. Your job is to come up with a unique partner yoga/acroyoga version of it. We are looking for your most imaginative ideas - please don’t worry about perfection! We’re hoping that this challenge stimulates your creativity and we want you to have fun with it.

Don’t worry about posting every day. We will give a couple of days at the end of the challenge for any catching up you have to do. Your entries will count as long as they are all in by the end date (March 7th). Remember that we are looking for fun and creativity! Be original and show us your personality! Have fun and remember to SMILE! :D

We're hosting a hand to hand workshop tonight at Upward Dog. The workshop is by donation with all proceeds going to the Canadian Service Dogs Foundation. This is our journey to hand to hand :)

When I was a kid I would watch TV lying on my tummy. We lived with a cat called Abby and I was her human, she would climb on my back and drool. I didn't mind the wet patch on my back, her intentions were to be close to me and I trusted her. This was compassionate touch in the purrest form. Abby passed away, it turns out she was drooling because of a tumour on her tongue :(

I was blessed with many other beautiful and wise pets while I was growing up, my first memory is of one of my dogs. They all showed their affection with different forms of touch. When Acroyoga found me I rediscovered the wisdom of my pets, compassionate honest touch with another being.

Touch can be complicated and unfortunately passion is sometimes confused with compassion. Passionate feelings are natural and there is no need to feel guilty for having them. But it is important to be honest about your own intentions and communicate them to your partner. If someone is expecting compassionate touch and they receive passionate touch then it is nonconsensual touch. It destroys the most beautiful part of Acroyoga, trust.

My pets never learned any asanas but they are the most yogi creatures I have ever known. I trusted them and they trusted me. Thank you Tinker, Floppy, Abby, Lulu, Coco, and Molly for everything you taught me, your memories bring me smiles.

Further reading:

• Have You Experienced Inappropriate Behavior from Others in AcroYoga? (Facebook discussion)
• 101 ways to say no to contact improvisation boundaries and trust

Everyone who does acro knows that there will be a sense of trust with anyone you work with - base, flyer or spotter.  As a flyer, I have to trust my base:

1) not to put me in any precarious situation

2) trust that his/her vantage point is solid and that

3) he/she will make a choice to continue or not to continue depending on how they are feeling in that moment.  

Certain moves in acro aren't achievable unless the flyer trusts the base enough to 'lock out' and not lose body awareness when moves are happening (think elevators, pops, whips, any washing machine, counterbalances or balances in general). 

Trust is earned in acro.  When I began acro, everything was very exciting and fun; I became a little reckless.  It wasn't until I had a few bad falls that I realized that it was dangerous to work on a move with someone who maybe wasn't ready for it at that point. From then on, I would trust people enough to fly with them, but was always preparing myself for a fall, looking for my exit strategy and not losing myself in the moment as a yogic consciousness would dictate.

I remember precisely the point when I started to really trust Greg.  We were jamming together on Parliament Hill.  He was showing me a new entry into reverse star.  I accidentally tipped too far over and started to fall towards his head.  I believe most bases would react, reasonably, by protecting their head with their arms.  Instead, Greg caught me with hands and safely tipped me over feet first onto the grass.  Phew.  

It was at that moment I realized that I had never had a bad fall with Greg.  He always placed the safety emphasis on the flyer. In fact, to this day, there are many times when I want to try something but he will insist on waiting until we are in a safer situation.  He always has my back - literally and figuratively!  

I feel incredibly lucky to play in a loving and caring community here in Ottawa.  I have plenty of acro friends who I trust to base, fly and most importantly - spot.  As a community, I believe this trust within each other has allowed us to grow and learn exponentially.  I am more willing to try things because I trust that Greg will catch me, and, should something go very wrong, I have a fabulous group of friends who are phenomenal and encouraging spotters.

One further point - when you are working with someone you trust 100%, it is an incredibly liberating feeling.  Things which are insurmountable by yourself are suddenly accessible with a partner.  I cannot hold a free handstand.  With Greg, I can fly hand to handstand and hold it.  He trusts that I will trust HIM; this partnership creates stronger poses and keeps our consciousness in the moment.   

Here's hoping that everyone can find someone they can trust 100% in acro!

Keep smiling. :)

1) One person initiates the flow in order to stay safe

2) Moving with slow and deliberate motions

3) Verbalizing when it is time to switch the initiator

The first time we tried this was fantastic.  I was the initiator and Greg had to guess what move I was trying to convey through body motion only.  By being completely receptive, he was able to correctly guess about 95% of the moves I was trying to communicate through subtle body weight shifts, pressure and other movements.  

When it was his turn to be the initiator, I felt receptive but also vulnerable.  It was a good learning experience for me, as well as an important trust building moment with my partner!  

Since then, most of our flows have been psychically communicated.  We are able to slip into a certain rhythm and flow from there.  Of course, we only flow with moves that have been practiced until they are consistent.  We use clear verbal communication for any moves we are still mastering.

Trust and communication are key in acro.  By being receptive, you may find you know your partner even better than you may have thought. :)

Keep smiling!

Namaste. :)